Lancaster
attorney David Bianchi has been elected a commissioner of the Los Angeles
Superior Court.

Bianchi,
who has practiced law in the AntelopeValley
for 25 years and is a former Lancaster
deputy city attorney, was chosen by the court’s judges in balloting that ended
last week. He said yesterday he expects to be sworn in June 13.

He
has not officially received an assignment, he explains, but could be sent to
the second family law department for the AntelopeValley,
which is soon to be reopened.

It
will be ‘real hard” to leave Michelizzi, Schwabacher, Ward & Bianchi, the
oldest law firm in the AntelopeValley,
he said. But it is no secret that he had been looking for another challenge.

Bianchi
ran for judge in the old Antelope Judicial District in 2000, after flirting
with a run earlier. He lost the contest, but was subsequently appointed to a part-time
referee’s position that was eventually eliminated for budget reasons.

An
AntelopeValley
assignment would allow him to remain in the community where he has served as
exalted ruler of the Elks Lodge, president of the Kiwanis Club, board member of
the Salvation Army, and a youth soccer coach and referee. He also served in
1988 as president of the Antelope Valley Bar Assn.

Born
and reared in Amsterdam,
N.Y, Bianchi graduated from FloridaStateUniversity—he
had a golf scholarship—in 1972. He worked as a sales representative for Campbell’s
Soup Company in upstate New York
for a couple of years entering what was then San Fernando Valley College of
Law.

He
earned his degree there in 1979 and was admitted to the State Bar that same
year.

He
has also taught business law at the community college level and is a certified
family law specialist, although he has also done estate planning and probate.

As
commissioner, he succeeds Sanjay T. Kumar, who was appointed a judge last
month. Bianchi was the highest-ranked candidate on the list of nominees, the
rankings being assigned by a judicial panel.

The
rankings are not binding on the judges, but have been consistently followed for
the past several years. Bianchi, who said in the past—and reaffirmed yesterday—that
he will not seek judicial election or appointment because he considers the
process too political, said the commissioner selection process works well
because candidates are instructed not to contact judges or to ask others to
contact judges on their behalf.

Three
more commissioner vacancies are scheduled. Commissioner Guillermina Byrne,
whose last day on the bench was May 13, officially retires June 6; Commissioner
Stanford Reichert is to be sworn in as a San Bernardino Superior Court judge
next week; and Commissioner Patricia G. Schwartz will not sit after next
Tuesday and is retiring July 18.